(FixThisNation.com) – On Monday, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) endorsed the push that would have ByteDance, the Chinese company that owns TikTok, either sell the ban in the United States or have the app banned in the United States. This is as McConnell, and many others have argued, that Chinese ownership could lead to serious national security threats.
On the Senate floor, McConnell argued that the greatest strategic rival of the United States is threatening the country’s security on U.S. soil. He added that this was a reference to TikTok. As he pointed out there are currently 170 million Americans who actively use the platform.
He also claimed that the People’s Republic of China was using the social media platform as a tool for their propaganda and surveillance. He also warned that American users on the platform were giving the communist government of China access to all of their data.
However, despite these accusations, TikTok officials have maintained that the sensitive data, keystrokes, browsing histories, and personal information of users on the platform is protected.
Still, McConnell maintained that a ban on TikTok would help deal with the threat being posed to American children. He added that this was an issue that Congress needed to urgently address and that he would be providing his support for any bills that would address the tools used by Beijing, including espionage and coercion.
McConnell further claimed that TikTok’s algorithm was promoting harmful trends. He also dismissed those concerns about how banning the platform could be deemed a violation of the First Amendment.
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